Tag: freedom of speech
U.S.-Iran Nuclear Negotiations: The Enduring Moscow–Tehran Axis
Seven years after Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA), the unpredictable U.S. president announced...
Meet Nemesis, the Armenian Military Brotherhood Fighting in Ukraine
Citoyens ukrainiens d’origine arménienne et volontaires venus de Russie ou d’Arménie, ils se battent pour la liberté.
ReArmed Europe: A Trump-Induced Strategic Awakening
Donald Trump’s return to power has shattered long-held certainties across the Atlantic. With NATO shaken and U.S. support for Ukraine suspended, Europe finds itself forced into a historic reckoning: stand together – or stand alone.
Do Ukrainian Lives Really Matter?
American public opinion is strongly pro-Ukrainian, so Trump would have difficulty abandoning Ukraine.
Ukraine: The Elephant in the Room
The tariff war is part of the war against the international order waged by Putin and his dictator friends.
The Danger of the Trumpian Revolution: Some Historical Analogies
The tariff war has diverted public attention from a deeper analysis of the Trumpian revolution. Indeed, a true revolution is happening before our amazed...
Russia’s plan for the United States
The goal of the Kremlin, along with that of the high-tech oligarchs, is to create an irreversible situation in the United States by making it ungovernable.
The Black Sea and its Stakes in the Ukrainian War
A "botched peace" imposed by Trump would cause a disruption of the balance in the Black Sea and change the geopolitical situation in the entire region.
Vladimir Putin’s Twofold Revenge
The deal between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to carve up Ukraine and oust Zelensky in the name of future “peace” was reportedly made well before the spectacular clash at the White House.
Thinking the Unimaginable
A transatlantic pathology: analysis of the passions and mechanisms of the populist crisis of liberal democracy.
The Lessons of Trumpism for Europeans: How to Avoid a ‘Self-Putinization’ of the EU
The historian explains the intellectual origins of Trumpism and suggests urgent measures to take.
Volodymyr Zelensky, a Heroic Man
The Ukrainian president is now like a bone stuck not only in Putin's throat, but also in that of Trump and his entourage.
“Game of Trump”: The Fate of Ukraine and the Need for European Geopolitical Consolidation
American diplomacy could give way to Russia not only in Ukraine, but in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe. This raises the urgency of greater autonomy for European allies.
Making Putin Happy Again
Trump's submission to Putin endangers the entire European continent. In the face of American cynicism, Volodymyr Zelensky and his European partners must adopt a position of strength.
Does Ukraine’s History Prompt Israel to Provide It With Special Support?
The defeat of Hamas and Hezbollah and the fall of the Assad regime open a new path for cooperation between the two countries.
The Baltic, a “NATO Lake”? Moscow’s Aggressive Policy in the Nordic-Baltic Region
European NATO members face Russian sabotage in the Baltic.
We are on Mars
Elon Musk wants to create an inhabited city on Mars. The idea is not new and is in line with the dreams of the Kremlin's "cosmists".
The American Revolution and the Conflict in Ukraine
Is a “deal” with Trump possible? And what “deal”?
Confronting the Moscow-Beijing Axis: The Need for a Common Western Front in the Arctic
Donald Trump must be taken seriously in his speech on Greenland, which covers many geopolitical issues.
Against all odds: Trump, Ukraine, and Unmalleable Reality
Donald Trump may fall for the Kremlin's trick, but Ukrainians will not stop fighting.
Moscow-Benghazi: scope and limitations of Russia’s shift to Libya
The “conflicting synergy” between Russia and Turkey will not prevent Putin from continuing his destabilizing action in the Western Mediterranean.
The Moscow-Beijing-Pyongyang triangle
The rapprochement between North Korea and Russia is strengthening, despite China's discontent. Can we then hope for a cooling of Russian-Chinese relations?
Fighting a ‘Holy War’: North Korea’s Role in Putin’s Crusade Against Ukraine
With a second nuclear-armed state entering the war against Ukraine, democratic governments face increasingly difficult choices.
Russia’s Future: How to Separate the Possible from the Impossible
It is necessary to prepare for the decolonization of Russia now.
Is Putinism Fascist?
Classical fascism offers striking parallels with Putin's policies. For Ukrainians, Putin's fascism is obvious.
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!
Since the beginning of time, people have loved to take stock of the year that is ending and sketch plans and forecasts for the...
United States: Cloning Putinism?
According to the author, the regime that Trump wants to impose on Americans has similarities to that of Putin and, in both cases, the complacency of the oligarchs plays an important role.
In Georgia, Resistance Gains Momentum
Disparate social and political groups unite with ultimate determination to save the republic and the country's European future.
Driving the Russians out of Syria
After the fall of Assad, the question of Russian bases in Syria is pending. The strategic stakes are major.
How money stained with Ukrainian blood feeds contemporary art in Venice
A new cultural institution is headed by the daughter of an oligarch directly participating in the genocidal war.
On the Axis of Evil and Naming the Powers Hostile to the West
Their level of coordination is already much higher than that of the Axis powers before WWII.
Going along with Trump
With the new American president, Ukrainians can hope for a decent peace, but must prepare for the worst.
Vladimir Putin’s Role Models
If the Russian president has almost rehabilitated Stalin, he has mainly drawn inspiration from Andropov and Primakov.
From Lenin to Putin: One Hundred and Seven Years of Malfeasance
Since the Bolshevik coup d'état of 1917, Lenin and his comrades have been working out the principles of relations with the outside world: destabilizing...
The Election of Donald Trump, the “Pivot” to Asia, and the Europeanization of NATO
How to avoid a geostrategic decoupling between the two shores of the North Atlantic?
The Georgian Dream That Shattered the European Dream
In November 2003, the Rose Revolution took place in Georgia. Following disputed parliamentary elections, large demonstrations organized by the opposition spread across the country,...
Russia: Converging Boomerang Effects
This text is an expanded version of the presentation at the symposium “China-Russia: Affinities and Differences” (Sorbonne, May 10, 2024), in the roundtable “Stability...
Moscow and Pyongyang’s Alliance and Maneuvers on the Eurasian Stage: Let Us Stop Being in Denial
When Vladimir Putin welcomed Kim Jong-un to the Russian Far East from September 13 to 15, 2023, and the North Korean leader visited the...
The Abduction of Ukrainian Children in Light of Russian Demographics
The criminal Russian regime is trying to restore its demographic health at the expense of the Ukrainians.
The Sino-Russian Axis and its Extensions: The Challenge of Naming Reality
Putin's Russia-Eurasia and Xi Jinping's neo-Maoist China are maneuvering together.
Putin’s New Bluff
The Russian president's announcement to change military and nuclear doctrine is aimed at dissuading Western powers from supporting Ukraine.
The Nevzlin Affair, or the “Beautiful Russia of the Future” Mirage
For several days now, a storm has been shaking Russian opposition circles, now scattered across several European countries, the United States, and other parts...
Toward a Munich-Style Agreement, Slowly but Surely, and the Return of Feudalism
The lost time makes it increasingly difficult to thwart the project of world vassalization pursued by Xi Jinping and Putin.
Ukraine’s three fronts
It must fight not only against the Russian enemy, but also against the fears, prejudices and procrastination of the West.
Lessons from Kursk
What does this daring operation tell us about the state of the Russian army? About the mentality of Russian leaders? About the state of Russian society?
Russia-Mongolia: Constraints Weighing on Mongolian Diplomacy
This country, a signatory to the Treaty of Rome, welcomed Putin despite the international arrest warrant. In truth, Mongolia's latitude for action is limited.
Under the Southern Gaze
"Non-Allied" Countries and Russian War in Ukraine: An (im)Possible Engagement
After a series of minor but painful military defeats, largely caused by the lack of...
Let Us Not Falter at the Last Minute
The Russian economy, including its military-industrial complex, is showing signs of exhaustion. It would be unfortunate if the West were to give in to the pressure of the peacemakers, while the Moscow autocracy itself is at the end of its rope.
Regarding the Washington Summit: A Plea to NATO
What is the future of the alliance in the face of the very probable election of Donald Trump next November, a flamboyant survivor of an attack against him?
Orbán’s “Peace Mission” and the EU
Viktor Orbán is clearly positioning himself as a European link between Putin and Trump, despite the EU's disapproval.
Why the EU Should Replace the Eastern Partnership With a Trans-Caspian Partnership
It is time for a more geopolitically assertive European Union to rethink geographically and broaden thematically its Eastern policy.
French Sovereignty and Western Solidarity in the Face of the Moscow-Tehran-Beijing Axis
The concrete exercise of sovereignty requires a certain number of conditions, including a clear awareness of the issues of the time.
In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union
Moscow has chosen its side. A few days before the second round of the French legislative elections, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry published a...
Tomorrow: France Versus Ukraine? A Momentum Cut Short
While France has made remarkable conceptual progress in its support for Ukraine in recent months, a victory for the far right could call this into question at the worst possible moment.
Toward a Putinization of France?
This essay deals with both history and current events. The author demonstrates how Putin’s regime and its ideologues work to destroy French society from...
Solidarity in the Carpathian Region
A cross-border area of 16 million inhabitants, the Carpathian region is unique in its linguistic and cultural diversity.
South Africa, an Ally of Russia in Africa and Within the Global South
We must stop treating South Africa as some kind of liberal democracy on the African continent.
A Shared Democratic Struggle in Ukraine and France
In France, the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly had the effect of a tsunami. In three weeks’ time, we risk seeing...
Yulia Sineokaya: “We are Engaged in a Critical Analysis of the Catastrophe”
The Russian philosopher, in exile in Paris, speaks in this interview about the state of science in Russia, odious figures like Zinoviev and Dugin, and the role of philosophy in our world.
Return to Yahidne, the Ghosts of a Human Shield
The couple of writers and travelers, who have been living in Kyiv since 2023, tell us about the ordeal experienced by the inhabitants of Yahidne during the Russian occupation.
On Indian Diplomacy, Sino-Russian Eurasia, and the West: Towards a Geopolitical Transformation of India?
It is often said that India, along with Iran, is part of this anti-Western club. This is to forget that the differences between China and India are old and deep.
How to Explain the Yo-Yos of French Diplomacy?
Where does the idea come from to invite Russia, which did not participate in the Landing nor does it share the values that are the very foundations of our societies?
Subverting Elites and Manipulating the Masses: how Russian Interference Corrupts American Politics
Russian political culture has already permeated some American political circles. Fortunately, American opinion remains overwhelmingly pro-Kyiv, as does the Republican establishment.
Giorgi Gakharia: “This law Serves Russian Interests”
The former Prime Minister of Georgia explains in this interview what are the challenges of the law on foreign agents which has caused a real uproar within Georgian society.
On China as a Proxy for Russia-Eurasia: Lies and Historical Approximations in Chinese Geopolitical Discourse
In Europe, people are finally recognizing the depth of the Beijing-Moscow strategic axis, the driving force behind anti-Western dynamics and imperialist resentment.
Russian Expansionism: Enduring Goals and Recurring Methods
Russia's messianic, expansionist and militarist propensity is inseparable from the autocratic matrix of Russian power.
Why and how Russia is Transferring Ukrainian Children
One of the goals of the Russian invasion is to capture and then Russify large numbers of Ukrainian citizens in order to support Russia's declining demographics.
Comrade Putin’s Sexennial Plan
Reading this 13-page document, it is difficult not to be reminded of the Soviet five-year plans inaugurated by Stalin in 1929.
Fighting an Uphill Battle
How to win when your enemy is superior in number of men and weapons? The Ukrainian political scientist calls for “reframing the fight”.
The Quarrels of the Russian Opposition
A new documentary, produced by Alexeï Navalny's Anti-Corruption Fund and devoted to the Yeltsin period, has sparked contrasting reactions. This intense controversy reveals a lot about the state of mind of Russian society.
The Indispensable Return of America
The delay in the vote by the American Congress on a new tranche of aid to Ukraine is being paid very dearly in Ukraine and on the international scene. This delay having allowed Russia to strengthen itself, the war will still be long and costly.
The Great Russian Pretence
The Russian propaganda discourse resonates with certain conservatives. Our author looks at the way in which, far from defending a European “civilization”, the Putin regime has transformed into an “eschatological sect”.
The Russian State in the Face of Terrorism
While continuing to accuse Ukraine and its Western “sponsors” of being behind the Crocus City Hall attack, the Russian leadership is strengthening its anti-terrorist repression… against its own political opponents.
Azat Miftakhov: “While Claiming to Fight Terrorism, the Russian State Seeks to Maintain its Monopoly on Terror”
We publish the latest court statement of mathematician Azat Miftakhov. This young anarchist had already served a heavy sentence. He has just been convicted of “apology of terrorism”.
Alexander Skobov: “The Imperial Essence of the Russian State Must Disappear”
On April 3, Alexander Skobov, 66, a former Soviet political prisoner and one of our authors, was arrested in St. Petersburg. He is accused of “apology of terrorism”.
On Mourning, with Sigmund Freud
Here, the author delivers another installment in her "anti-fascist library", which helps us to understand our world by drawing on works from the past....
Thoughts on the Crocus City Hall Attack
The scale and atrocity of the Krasnogorsk attack shook the world, bringing back bloody images of other mass killings around the globe. Yet 48...
When Soft Power Turns Hard
The Ukrainian political scientist calls on the West to be lucid, because Russian propagandists are using culture to give a more “humane” image to the genocidal barbarity of the Putin regime.
The Persistent Western Denial of Ukraine’s European Identity and its Consequences
Western perceptions of Ukraine have been influenced by Russian “imperial knowledge”. The long non-recognition of Ukraine’s Europeanness by Europe has strengthened Russian ambitions.
De-Stalinization and de-Putinization
The Russian Electoral Commission did not validate the candidacy of Boris Nadezhdin. But the emergence of such a candidate is symptomatic. The atmosphere in Russia in recent months is strikingly reminiscent of that at the end of Stalin’s rule.
Ukraine’s Dark Clouds – and a Silver Lining?
By the end of last year, international news on Ukraine began increasingly to look like obituaries. “Kyiv on edge,” “Ukraine’s grim prospects,” “Ukraine braces for political disaster,” “Ukraine’s nightmare scenario is now a reality”: these are just a few headlines…
Where is the Will of the West?
In the confrontation between the West and Russia which started on February 24, 2022, the West and Ukraine had everything they needed to win:...
Maria Vassilievna Rozanova: a Major Figure of Russian Literature and Dissidence
It is not easy to profile Maria Vassilievna Rozanova (1930, Vitebsk - 2023, Fontenay-aux-Roses), a publisher, author, art historian, architect, jeweler and fashion designer....
Neither Moralistic nor Quixotic, Support for Ukraine is a Political and Moral Imperative
We all know how defeatists exploit the recent comments of General Valery Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian Chief of Staff, who spoke of a possible strategic...
Would Brussels Fall for Russia’s Trick of Obfuscated Political Reality in Georgia?
While Europeans saw the failure of the attempt to depose the Georgian president as "a victory for Georgia's European future", Jaba Devdariani shows, with...
Ukraine’s War and Challenges of Decolonization
Why western “political realists” are wrong about the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war which is in fact a “culture war”, and is all about...
Why the Anti-jewish Riots in the North Caucasus?
The pogrom at Makhachkala airport took the world by surprise. How should we interpret this event? Was it spontaneous or was it a manipulation by Russian power which thus sought to send messages to the West and Israel?
Why Putin Chooses Chaos
Putin’s speech to Valdai unambiguously states his intention to destroy the international order and create chaos in its place in order to indulge in depredations without constraint. The support for Hamas displayed by Putin and his propagandists perfectly illustrates these aspirations.
The Second Front
Russia is carrying out undermining work among the Ukrainians themselves, but also by infiltrating Western decision-making circles, in Washington and in European capitals. Preventing Western support for a final victory for Ukraine and discouraging Ukrainians from fighting until victory, these are the Russian objectives that our author analyzes and denounces.
When Russia “helps” Africa
The African summit in St. Petersburg was not a great success. But Vladimir Putin was able to harangue to his heart's content. Evicting Westerners...
The war Against Ukraine Exposes the Shortcomings of International Humanitarian law: Together we can Remedy Them
Mikhail Savva, political scientist and expert at the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties, calls for reform of international humanitarian law in the face of...
Russia: the end of Consensus
According to this French historian, the image of an almost monolithic Putinist system now turns out to be an illusion. Putin has prevailed because...
The Russian Lobby in the United States
In this thorough investigation, historian Laurence Saint-Gilles sketches the contours of the Russian lobby in the United States and identifies its preferred themes, before...
Wild Geese
Drones descend on the Kremlin, Russian rebels attack Belgorod, Russian positions are attacked in Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin and his entourage continue to display...
They Made Putinism: Mikhail Lesin (1958-2015) from Russia Today to Hollywood
Vladimir Putin did not conceive and build Putinism alone. This is the fifth part of the series "They made Putinism", written for Desk Russia...
They Made Putinism: Alfred Koch, the man of Privatizations and NTV
Vladimir Putin did not create and build Putinism alone. Historian Cécile Vaissié presents in Desk Russie the fourth part of her series "They made...
A Feigned Innocence
Our cartoonist tackles the destruction of the Kakhovka dam by the Russians, while the Putin regime continues to claim, falsely, its innocence. As so...
NATO, the Only Real Guarantee of Security for a Free and Independent Ukraine
After heavy tanks and long-range missiles, the lifting of the ban on the delivery of F-16 aircraft marks a new stage in the strengthening...
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Mania for Grandeur
This time, our cartoonist tackles the mania for grandeur of Putin's "cook" who, according to rumours, was ready to divulge Russian military secrets to...
The Toxic Spell of “Imperial Knowledge”
In this paper, the Ukrainian political scientist and thinker explains how the Russian imperial vision of Ukraine has penetrated deep into Western society, how...
The Bakhmut Apocalypse
Essayist and journalist Jean-François Bouthors examines the symbolic significance of this Pyrrhic victory, based on the capture of Bakhmut by Yevgeny Prigozhin's militia. For...
They Made Putinism: Gleb Pavlovsky (1951-2023), the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the Green Jacket
After her portrait of Vladislav Sourkov, the Kremlin's éminence grise, historian Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russia the second part of her series "They made...
The Harmful Role of the Kremlin and Wagner in Sudan
From the beginning of the conflict between the two military leaders who exercise power in Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed...
The Strategic and Geopolitical Limits of the Partnership Between Delhi and Moscow
India has gone from neutrality to "multi-alignment". It does not condemn the Russian aggression in Ukraine and rejects international sanctions. In fact, it is...
A Geopolitical Mirage: the “De-westernization” of the World
Analyst and political philosopher Philippe de Lara examines the complexity of the notion of the "global South". The growing disenchantment with the West that...
Vladislav Surkov, the “Aesthete” of the Shadows
A great expert on post-Soviet Russia, Professor Cécile Vaissié offers Desk Russie the beginning of her series "They made Putinism", and the first part...
When we Keep Neutral Despite Everything
Our cartoonist attacks the so-called neutral position of the "Global South" which stubbornly refuses to recognize the criminal nature of the war waged by...
Sanctions: Useless, Really?
Criticism mounts today in the West with the strong encouragement of Kremlin propaganda against the sanctions put in place following Russian aggression against Ukraine....
From Belarus to Belorussia: the Resatellisation of a Former Soviet Republic
Since the worst cannot be ruled out, strategists need to "think the unthinkable". Thus, the announcement of the future deployment of Russian tactical nuclear...
“Vacation Camp”
This time, our cartoonist tackles the abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian military, under the pretext of "saving" them. A system of vacation...
Russia: the Impossible “Union Sacrée”
Union sacrée: united patriotic front of all parties formed at the beginning of the first World War.
The historian Françoise Thom reminds us that the...
Putin: “We don’t Know What to do With our Money! »
After a year of war, international sanctions are seriously penalizing the Russian economy and war machine, but nothing yet threatens the personal wealth of...
Understanding Uprooting: With Charlotte Beradt
The art historian and writer Olga Medvedkova delivers the second part of her “little library of antifascism” to tell us about the fate of...
How to Move from the Russian World to the Russian State: Building an Alternative to the Apocalypse
A paradoxical consensus has formed in recent weeks In Ukraine, Russia and the West: the war will be long and it will require considerable...
In Ukraine, the Pressing Commitment of International Law
International law sometimes seems to be a forgotten authority among commentators of the Russian war against Ukraine. Often barely mentioned during Russian atrocities in...
The Best Christmas Gift
What is the best Christmas present for Ukrainians who are suffering in their flesh from the savage and violent war waged by Putin and...
To Europe “po Blatu”
It seems that less-than-democratic regimes in the Balkans and the Caucasus are entertaining the feeling that Victor Orban’s Hungary represents their access point to...
A Spoonful of Tar in a Barrel of Honey
Marianna Perebenesiuk, an analyst of Ukrainian origin who is often invited on French TV channels, shares her thoughts on the principles of organizing television...
Nezalezhnist — On Zelensky’s Style
French art historian and writer of Russian origin, Olga Medvedkova analyzes the essence of Zelensky's style and the exemplary courage of the Ukrainians. Where...
Georgia. an Expatriate Couple Committed to the Protection of Russian Political Dissidents
Egor Kuroptev and Anastasia Burakova are a discreet couple in the Georgian capital, where they met in the spring of 2021 and married the...
“Bavovna” and Other Ukrainians Memes : how Laughing Helps to Keep Going
The Ukrainian intellectual Marianna Perebenesiuk tells us about some funny memes circulating on the Ukrainian Internet with great success since the beginning of the...
Dissent, Crime, and the Future of Russia
When Russia is free again, the Russian people will again have to face a reality: the massive crimes committed in their name by Putin’s...
After the Hardened Criminals Engaged in the Russian Army, who is Next?
For months, Evgueni Prigojine, the boss of the Wagner mercenaries, has been crisscrossing Russian penal colonies in search of criminals ready to trade their...
Vladimir Milov: “the West has Been Deliberately Delaying Arming Ukraine”
Interview by Marie Mendras
Vladimir Milov is a leading Russian opposition politician, energy expert and adviser to Aleksey Navalny. He was deputy minister of Energy...
The Influx of Russians Troubles Georgia
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nearly 700,000 Russians are believed to have fled their country — in opposition to the war, because of...
And now? On the Possibility of an All-out War
The war in Ukraine is in full swing. The order for the "partial mobilization" of Russian army reservists and part of the male population...
Defeating the Russian Bearhemoth in the Historiverse
As an expert on the European far right, the author analyzes the importance of the German-Soviet pact of 1939, also known as the "Molotov-Ribbentrop...
When the Draft is in Full Swing in Russia
Several Russian officials have denounced the overzealousness of Russian recruitment offices, which issue military convocations to blind people, pensioners and invalids. Our cartoonist evokes...
When the Ukrainians go for it…
Our cartoonist Epo accompanies the Ukrainian advance and makes fun of Russian lies.
China and India’s distance from Russia’s war on Ukraine may become a trap
Recently, Beijing and Delhi have shown a certain distance towards the Russian aggression against Ukraine and suggested to Moscow to stop it and accept...
Iran, a platform for circumventing sanctions against Russia
According to the French geopolitologist, the Russian-Iranian alliance is strengthening against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, and Iran could become a platform...
Putin’s regime hits its top executives
Our cartoonist Epo alludes to the arrest, at the end of June, of the brilliant liberal economist Vladimir Maou, rector of the Academy of...
Back to school
Back to school time! In today's increasingly militarized Russia, many parents are dressing their toddlers in military uniforms to go to school. It is...
A Slippery Slope
The double blackmail exercised by the Russian president, gas blackmail and world famine blackmail, is starting to pay off: the West has just lifted...
When Putin Looks Like…
In a recent publication, Desk Russie found that Putin's speech resembled the times to that of Stalin and Hitler. Epo pushes the comparison even...
The Serbia-Russia Alliance, Belgrade’s Multi-faceted Diplomacy and the Improbable European Perspective
The European Union's acceptance of Kiev's candidacy, an adequate but insufficient decision to ensure Ukraine's defense, has repercussions in the Western Balkans.
Meeting on the...
Putin: the Phase of Self-destruction
The Russian president is unable to learn from his mistakes, or even admit that he is not infallible. His reaction to each failure is...
A war Against Russian Culture Constitutes Support for Vladimir Putin
In this paper, the former Soviet dissident explains that Russian culture lives through difficult times under Putin’s regime, especially after the invasion of Ukraine....
How weariness wins our societies…
Have you noticed that the war in Ukraine is much less of a media concern than even a month ago? This war no longer...
“We are not Savages.” Really?
This time, our cartoonist attacks the Russian killers who mortally wounded, on May 30, the French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, working for BFM-TV, while he...
Georgia: to be or not to Be
Russia's aggression against Ukraine is having a considerable impact in the former Soviet countries. In many of them, it is reflected in a political...
“Russia is Behaving According to the Colonial Schemes of the Past”
On June 13, the Mohyla Academy in Kyiv awarded an honoris causa doctorate to Herman Van Rompuy. On this occasion, during the videoconference ceremony,...
After Emmanuel Macron’s Trip to Kyiv, the end of France’s Russian Illusions?
Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Kyiv on June 16, 2022, where he was accompanied by the Romanian President, the German Chancellor and the Italian Prime...
A Brainstorming Session
This week, our cartoonist takes aim at Dmitry Medvedev, vice-president of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, who currently competes with the great...
Why the Putin System Carries war Like a Cloud Carries a Storm
The trajectory of the current Russian regime was predictable from the first weeks of Putin's reign. It is immediately apparent that the absolute priority...
“This is a Fake Button!”
Our cartoonist Epo offers us his new creation. It parodies Vladimir Poutine who is suspected of having Parkinson's disease.
The Rhetoric of the Aggressor
The historian Françoise Thom examines the speeches of Hitler, Molotov and Putin in order to show how similar their themes and reasoning. A dive...
Is Russian Culture Beyond Politics?
In this piece, Ukrainian art critic Daria Badior discusses a very important issue. Is it possible to build a career in the arts in...
Imagine Wearing “Fascist” Clothes
The war against Ukraine has placed Russia in the category of pariah states. As far as the Russian "state" is concerned, there is no...
Why do we Want Ukraine to Win?
Today, the Ukrainian army is being tested in the Don basin. Some people explain that it would have to consent to a Russian victory....
In Europe, There can be no French Exceptionalism
The strategic ambiguities of France and Germany and the reiteration of Emmanuel Macron’s unfortunate words on the “humiliation” that the Allies should not inflict...
Europe Must Accept Being at War
Accustomed to post WW2 peacetime, European politicians refuse to think about the war as state and as a process with its own political, social...
History, Geopolitics and Perspectives of the Baltic Sea
On May 17, 2022, Finland officially announced its candidacy for NATO membership. And this, in spite of Moscow's threats of future "military-technical measures". The...
Ukraine: let’s be Careful not to Divide Europe — and the Alliance
While the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance had shown a remarkable unity in their firmness towards the Russian regime and in their support...
Kirill Serebrennikov. Asking the right questions
This year, Kirill Serebrennikov, Russian director and filmmaker, is attending two major festivals in Cannes and Avignon because he is considered not only a...
Is Russian Culture Responsible for “Putin’s war” in Ukraine?
Ukrainian philosopher and essayist, Olekskiy Panytch, originally from Donetsk, examines in this text the Western attitude towards Russian culture. Should we stop all cultural...
The Other Russian Offensive
Faced with the perilous situation that the West’s unanimous condemnation of the war in Ukraine represents, Russia has launched a new "special operation", this...
The strategy of barbarism
Desk Russie is continuing to publish the cartoons in which cartoonist Epo reacts to the realities of the Putin regime's war on Ukraine.
The special orthodoxy of Pope Francis
Historian Françoise Thom examines the relationship between the Russian Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis and the latter's recent statements about the Russian invasion of...
The UN, Russian Aggression and the Impasses of Collective Security: Elements of Analysis and Response
The UN is experiencing a serious crisis following the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Security Council is paralyzed by the Russian use of its...
Sergei Lavrov and the Return of Soviet and Russian Anti-Semitism
After Sergei Lavrov's outrageous statements about Hitler's "Jewish blood", which caused an outcry in Israel and around the world, Vladimir Putin is reported to...
“They Pretend not to be Nazi!”
Cartoonists have always taken up current affairs. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is no exception. A cartoonist who wishes to remain anonymous has offered...
“The Ukrainian Garrison in Mariupol can Still be Saved”: Urgent Address to European Leaders
Ukrainian human rights defenders, former dissidents and scholars call European leaders to act now. Read the appeal.
To:Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,President...
Reveling in Transgression
With Vladimir Putin, one always believes that the bottom of disgrace has been reached, that the Kremlin cannot do even worse. But since February...
Back From Ukraine Where the Future Model for Europe Is Taking Shape
The author has just returned from a trip to Ukraine with a delegation from the European Parliament and the French Senate. In this paper,...
The Power of Propaganda
Former Soviet political prisoner Russian journalist Aleksandr Podrabinek analyzes the power of Kremlin propaganda that very much resembles George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth from...
Melancholic reflections on the French elections
The results of the first round of the French elections are astonishing. While Ukraine is desperately fighting to defend its freedom from the armed...
Defederating Russia
What happened to the Russian Empire? It disintegrated at the end of an imperialist war. What happened to the Soviet Union? It disintegrated at...
Our Call: Free Vladimir Kara-Murza
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a close friend of Boris Nemtsov and one of the most prominent members of the liberal and anti-nationalist opposition to Vladimir Putin,...
The Best Time to Fight Russia
We have to fight Putin today. We must do everything to protect Ukraine, including, if necessary, entering into direct military conflict with Russia. Today...
Russian Ideologues Aim to Liquidate the Ukrainian Nation
The author examines the writings of the former Russian president and prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who currently holds the post of vice-president of the...
“The Intuitions of Jules Michelet. A Selection by Françoise Thom
In Légendes démocratiques du Nord (1854), the historian Jules Michelet recounts the martyrdom of Poland following the loss of the Polish state. He evokes...
Beyond the “negotiations”, a long war
Is the timid opening in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on March 29 in Istanbul a "positive signal", as President Zelensky declared? If...
Istanbul Talks: What Does Russia Want?
The announcement of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations has raised hopes in the West, and stock markets have rebounded. Is this enthusiasm justified? Is a compromise...
Joe Biden and the “Butcher”: Truth and Exit
President Joe Biden’s phrase calling Vladimir Putin a “butcher” and his exhortation, if not his prayer, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in...
The lessons of an end of reign: Stalin 1952-3, Putin 2022
"And yet, what would become of a despotically governed country if a tyrant above all laws had to fear daggers? A horrible alternative, and...
Natan Sharansky: Putin’s Two Major Mistakes About Ukraine and the West
In a video conference organized on March 22 by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy , Natan Sharansky explained how...
Creating Frankenstein
Today’s Russia was largely prefigured by the red-brown coalition in the early 1990s, and Putin is just its embodiment, an epitome of the national...
The Medium Term Consequences of Attempts to Re-engage With the Russian Regime
In my previous paper for Desk Russie, I pointed out the fatal consequences of the lack of understanding of the nature of Putin’s regime...
Mariupol, a Martyred City: “Putin Intends to Annihilate Mariupol in an Attempt to Force the Ukrainian Government to Capitulate”
Josef Zissels, co-chairman of the Union of Ukrainian Communities (the Vaad), summarized on WhatsApp on March 15 the vibrant story of his friend who...
Alternative History Against History: the Case of Vladimir Putin
"It is in the nature of a despotic government to give rise, even inadvertently, to jealousy among those who surround it: since the will...
The Post-war World Seen from Russia
How do experts, close to the Kremlin or not, represent the post-war world? Here is what we can glean from the tightly controlled Russian...
Roman Kechur, President of the Ukrainian Confederation of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies: “Putin is not a Political Manager but an Emperor”
We publish an interview with Roman Kechur, president of the Ukrainian confederation of psychoanalytic therapies, where he analyzes Vladimir Putin’s behavior from a psychological...
Ukrainian Civil Society Leaders’ six Asks for the World
Putin has unleashed a bloody war on the people of Ukraine. Our hospitals, schools and homes have been bombed, our streets filled with tanks,...
Putin or the Passion for Evil
Putin's aggression against Ukraine was perceived as a thunderclap by the West, because it is always difficult to believe the worst. However, there has...
The Time for Courage
Faced with the now massive war launched by Putin against Ukraine, it would be a disaster to give the head of the Kremlin today...
French Kremlinophilia: an Incurable Disease?
French Kremlinophilia on the right and on the left is based on a complex but extremely solid substratum, which we can see today. The...
Prophecy and Anger: “Useless Knowledge”
In a 1988 book, La connaissance inutile (Useless Knowledge), the French philosopher Jean-François Revel analyzed a classic paradox: never have we, the decision-makers in...
Calling a Spade a Spade: the Rogue Essence of the Kremlin Regime
How to fight Russian disinformation and lies of Putin's regime on Ukraine? Instead of "dialoguing" with leaders who only swear by force, one should...
Immediate Opening of Negotiations on Ukraine’s Accession to the European Union: Appeal to eu Council President Emmanuel Macron
Desk Russie publishes this appeal of intellectuals, academics, politicians, journalists from all over Europe to Emmanuel Macron as President of the Council of the...
With Putin’s Russia, the Impossible Status Quo
During his trip to Moscow and then to Kyiv, President Emmanuel Macron insisted that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were non-negotiable. He also reaffirmed...
How to Train Europe: the Kremlin’s Exploitation of the Ukrainian Crisis
Westerners are wondering about Putin's intentions regarding Ukraine. They take into account the slightest declarations that emanate from the Kremlin, the movements of troops,...
Facing Russia: the Polish Geostrategic Actor and the Euro-atlantic Balance
The international crisis provoked by the Kremlin's pressure on Ukraine, considered as a pseudo-state doomed to destruction, has the virtue of clarifying the lines...
The Balkans Could be the Scene of a Future Diplomatic Confrontation With Russia
The Russian military threat to Ukraine and, by extension, to Mitteleuropa (Central and Eastern Europe, sometimes called "median") focuses the attention of diplomats and...
Putin: Flirting With Armageddon
After the Westerners' refusal to accept the Russian ultimatum of December 17, the West is slowly becoming aware that the risk of war with...
Beware the Sirens of Minsk
The Kremlin has gotten the attention it sought: it now has most of the western world guessing whether it will unleash an additional hundred...
Russia’s Attack on the European Security Order: Germany Must Act
Desk Russie publishes the Open Letter by 73 German Experts on Eastern Europe and International Security, first published in German by “Zeit Online”, on...
How the West Should Treat a “Bad Guy”
Russian-American relations are looking more and more like a high-school rivalry between a dumb-ass bully and an intelligent boy from a good family who...
Ukraine’s “European Dream”
Ukrainian political scientist analyzes Europe's attitude towards Ukraine. Despite the historical vocation of Ukraine to be part of the European family, the EU has...
The Liquidation of Memorial and the Destruction of the Universal Consciousness of Crime
The “liquidation” of Memorial by the so-called Russian “justice” is an attack on the universal conscience. I fear, reading some of the comments of...
Russian “new Weapons”: from Deterrence to Coercion?
Against the backdrop of a serious crisis in the eastern confines of Ukraine, where the sound of boots on the ground makes us fear...
Putin’s use of Force in Distant Central Asia Will Have Consequences in Europe
The dispatch of troops to Kazakhstan from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) is a...
Russia can be Checked by a Regional Response in Europe
Russia is posing an essentially 19th century challenge to Europe — a threat to the sovereignty of nations by redrawing their national borders through...
Kazakhstan: Voices of Russian Opponents
The Free Russia Forum was created in 2016 by a group of politicians, scholars, journalists, and cultural figures from the ex-USSR, in order to...
Reshaping Ukraine’s Western Integration
There is widespread fear of an escalation of the current Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict into a large and prolonged inter-state war in Europe. This could...
What Does the Russian Ultimatum to the West Mean?
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry unveiled two draft texts — a "Treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation on Security...
The West under the Gun: how to Deal with a Blackmailer
The video-meeting between Biden and Putin on December 7 has given rise to much speculation in the small world of experts. Biden having previously...
Turkey and Ukraine: Ins and Outs of Their Defense Partnership
Meeting in Riga (Latvia) on 1 December 2021, representatives of NATO member countries reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. Indeed, tensions are rising on the...
The Boomerang of Obscurantism: the Case of Covid
The Covid crisis has demonstrated the price that the Russian population has to pay for the policy that the Kremlin has been pursuing for...
Malignant Influence and Counter-influence: Responding to an Asymmetric Threat
The influence strategy of the Kremlin, as indeed of any dictatorial and criminal state, must be studied rigorously and as exhaustively as possible. Only...
Sowing Chaos
The Russian president is known for his professional habit of disguising the truth, but he is sometimes surprisingly frank. On November 18, at an...
Will There be a new War?
In the international community there is a growing talk of a new attack from Russia and Belarus on Ukraine. To date, at least 92...
Ukraine, the Frontline of Russia’s Hybrid Wars
The current situation on the borders of Poland and Latvia, neighbours of Lukashenko's Belarus, underscores the topicality of so-called "hybrid" wars. Ukraine, for its...
Journalist Geneviève Tabouis: Soviet Funding and Influence
A 1965 documentary shows her: a very dignified lady, first in front of her microphone, then in a bourgeois living room, with an impeccable...
“Memorial” in Danger : not to Remain Silent!
The General Prosecutor's Office of Russia sued the Supreme Court to liquidate the International Society "Memorial". Following this, the Moscow Public Prosecutor's Office filed...
The Migration Crisis: the Other Side of the Hybrid war Against Europe
In May 2021, as Putin began to implement his strategy of strangling Europe with gas deprivation, the Belarusian dictator launched another time bomb. On...
The Ukrainian Geopolitical Pivot and the new Cold War
It took years for the expression "new Cold War" to become obvious. Still, one would like to reserve its use for the description of...
The Russian Prison System is Built on Violence
The practice of torture in prisons and penal colonies in Russia has long been widespread. Prisoners are tortured and raped by other prisoners at...
The Return of Utopia to Power: the Turning Point of Putin’s Regime
At the Valdai meeting, Putin drew attention when he said: "The existing model of capitalism is outdated". Of all the speeches he made, this...
Strategy of the Absurd
A lot of recent information about Russia can be disconcerting for a reasonable reader. It is absurd. It is incomprehensible. The behavior of the...
Does Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Vote in Europe?
The question of a possible preference of the Russian regime for a certain potential French far-right candidate has fueled recent debates and could do...
Covid19: How Russia Lost the Third World War
It is already possible to recognize that Russia has lost the Third World War, it is a medical diagnosis. The demographic losses due to...
Putin — “A Modern Philosopher on the Throne”
The Valdai Discussion Club is a Russian think tank and discussion forum, established in 2004. Some members of the Russian ruling elite gather there...
Zemmour or the Fascination for Putin
For several weeks, Eric Zemmour has been at the forefront of the media scene. When it comes to East-West relations and the fate of...
The Destruction of the Soul in Putin’s Russia
In no Russian regime has propaganda held such a large place as it does in the Putin regime. Propaganda was very visible during the...
Can the European Union Build its Future Without Russia?
There is little room for maneuver in relations between the European Union and Russia, especially since the latter does not intend to negotiate or...
Why Such a Surge in Mortality in the Land of Sputnik V?
Russia is facing a new wave of coronavirus. According to official data, the death rate is increasing: if on September 15,792 people died, this...
Why do Some Russian Opponents of Putin’s Regime Criticize the Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Dmitry Muratov?
Among Russian opposition, opinions are divided: some congratulate the winner, Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, while others accuse the Nobel Committee of cowardice...
“Wagner” in Mali: the Tree Must not Hide the Forest
During the night of September 30 to October 1st, a Russian jumbo jet landed at the airport of Bamako (Mali). On its sides were...
The “Energy Partnership” With Russia: Lessons from the Past, Dangers for the Future
Today the trap patiently built by Moscow against Europe for 20 years is closing. Russia has never hidden its desire to abuse its dominant...
Nordstream-2, an Economic Project, did you Say?
Until very recently, Chancellor Merkel kept repeating that Nordstream-2 was a purely commercial project, devoid of any political implications. This insistence by Westerners on...
Josef Zissels: “Putin is sending us a Trojan horse”
For several years, Ukrainian civil society has been protesting against the "Russian" project of a memorial at Babi Yar, a place of Holocaust remembrance,...
How the Putin Regime Bets its Legitimacy at the Electoral Casino
In Russia, the election is a dirty game. The whole process is controlled by the bureaucracy, the information system, and intelligence services. Nothing is...
From the Afghan Withdrawal to the Foundation of the AUKUS: the Bright Future of European Defense?
If we are to believe the optimists, the withdrawal of the United States from the Afghan theater last August and the subsequent decision by...
Special Operation “Elections” in Russia. User Guide
Thirty years after the failed putsch against Mikhail Gorbachev, and the victory of universal suffrage and people’s sovereignty, Vladimir Putin has launched a new...
Russia, Afghanistan and Central Asia: a Geopolitical Overview
The evaporation of the Afghan National Army and the collapse of a state carried at arm's length by the United States and its allies...
The Consequences of the American Withdrawal from Afghanistan as Seen from Russia: the Impact in Europe, the Fate of NATO
The precipitous withdrawal of the Americans from Afghanistan was initially welcomed with jubilation in Moscow. Russian media were not only gloating because the Americans...
The Mass Graves of Odessa: Stalin’s Crimes in Ukraine
While Ukraine mourns the victims of Stalinism, Russia is rehabilitating Stalin. On August 30, mass graves containing the remains of victims of the Great...
The Taliban Against Russia? Neither Alliance, nor Fight
The victory of the Taliban was carefully prepared by Moscow: for a long time already, the Kremlin had been maintaining communication channels with this...
Thirty Years Since the August Coup
The August, 1991 Moscow coup was a desperate attempt to save the Soviet Union. When it collapsed, the will to preserve the socialist system...
Russian Military Power: A Seasoned Army Serving a Revisionist Geopolitical Project
In the West, the primacy of domestic objectives, the "long war" against Islamic terrorism and the perception of international rivalries through the prism of...
A Dr Strangelove in the Kremlin?
In his big election speech on March 1, 2018, to thunderous applause, Putin catalogs the new doomsday weapons Russia is working on. The Russian...
Sergei Kovalev: Conscience of Russia and Conscience of the West
Sergei Kovalev died at the age of 91, on August 9, 2021. According to the journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza who also fights for a democratic...
Russian-soviet History: the March Backwards
The new book of Françoise Thom, La marche à rebours. Regards sur l'histoire soviétique et russe, Sorbonne université presses, 2021, is a sum in...
Russia’s Ukraine According to Putin: how This Propagandistic Narrative Risks Reaching the West
In a July 12, 2021 essay that caused a stir among security analysts, Vladimir Putin considered the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one....
Resist the Homo Putinoidus!
Desk Russie recently published an article about the lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who is currently the victim of judicial persecution. In 2015, Pavlov founded Komanda...
Sergei Medvedev: “Russia Might cut Itself Completely off from the West”
Sergei Medvedev is a Russian scholar, a specialist of the post-Soviet period. In his analysis of Russian society, he uses sociology, geography, literature and...
Russia: Facing the Afghan Wasp Nest
"Among our enemies, the most to be feared are often the smallest," said Lafontaine. Russia, which has strenuously worked for the advent of "multipolarity",...
Svetlana Gannushkina: “We are Citizens, not Subjects of Mr. Putin”
Svetlana Gannushkina is one of the most famous Russian human rights activists. For more than thirty years she has dedicated herself to the defense...
Deciphering the European Policy of the Kremlin
Putin's article published in Die Zeit on June 22 marks the Kremlin's return to a European policy pursued since the Gorbachev years, after the...
Putin’s Russia: a Protean Ideology
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Eurasianism among Russian political emigrants — a philosophical and political theory that asserts the...
Putin and his Courtiers: a Cavalier Relationship With History
In an interview with the Financial Times on June 20, Vladislav Surkov, the architect of Putin's regime, compared the Russian president to Octavius, who...
Operation Chancellery: Russia’s Asymmetric war Against Germany
At the September 26, 2021, Bundestag elections, Germany will decide on its new political leadership. The Chancellor, justly considered hostile to Putin and his...
A Perspective on the Russian-iranian Alliance
In September 2015, when Russia intervened militarily in Syria in order to save the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, guarantor of its strategic "assets" in...
Mairbek Vatchagaev: “We Must Learn not Only to Defend our Rights, but to Live According to French Law”
Mairbek Vatchagaev is a historian and political analyst with the . He was spokesman for the independent Chechnya president Aslan Maskhadov (elected in 1997...
Putin’s Regime Represents the West’s Greatest Existential Threat
Interview with world renowned Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov
The Biden-Putin summit, the core nature of Russia’s current regime, corruption among western elites, the fate...
Putin-Biden: a Double-edged Summit
In Geneva on June 16, the American and Russian presidents, each in their own way, acknowledged that they had agreed on nothing, except that...
A new East European University Must be Established in an EU Member State
OPEN LETTER to the European Commission and national governments - from scientists and cultural figures
In the face of the repression in Russia and Belarus,...
Soft Propaganda: an Invisible and Invasive Threat
Many analysts of the current Russian regime are only focused on the hard propaganda of the Kremlin and its relays in the West, especially...
Despite Strong Words, the European Parliament Fails to Tackle Agents of Malign Russian Influence
The European Parliament’s resolutions tend to be critical of Putin’s Russia. One of the most recent resolutions on Russia adopted at the end of...
The Senator and the Fraud
On June 21, in the Senate, Senator Nathalie Goulet organized a "press briefing" with Vadim Rabinovich, a Ukrainian press magnate and leader of the...
The United States / Russia / China Triangle and the Improbability of a Reversal of Alliances
The priority given by American diplomacy to the Chinese threat sometimes leads to fears of a shift in favor of Russia, the objective being...
The Karabakh war: how Russia’s Image has Deteriorated in Both Armenia and Azerbaijan
There is no evidence that an economically weakened Russia has stopped viewing unresolved conflicts as a tool for keeping control on what it considers...
Why Stalin Refused to Believe in a German Attack?
During the night of June 21-22, 1941, Germany attacked the USSR. In spite of the warnings coming from all sides, Stalin did not believe...
The Irresistible Attraction of Authoritarianism
Anne Applebaum, Democracies in Decline: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, Doubleday, 2020 (French translation by Aude de Saint-Loup and Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat. Paris, Grasset, 2021)
"When...
They Tortured Raman: Will European and American Leaders be up to the Challenge of History?
Raman Protasevich was kidnapped by the Belarusian security services in an act of air piracy that must be considered a terrorist action. Shortly after...
The Lawsuit Brought Against Catherine Belton by Russian Oligarchs: a red Alert for Europe
The lawsuit brought against Catherine Belton, a British investigative journalist, by four Russian oligarchs and a Russian state company has not attracted enough attention...
Putin’s Setbacks and the Fight for his Succession
If we look at the news of the last few months, we see that a series of seemingly disparate events all point to a...
Sputnik V: The Missed Promise of a Messianic Vaccine
The Russian leadership boasted that it was the first to invent an anti-Covid vaccine, in August 2020. The vaccine, called Sputnik V, is supposed...
Russia: the Banality of Crime and its Strategic Consequences
Independently of any moral dimension, the practice of war crimes also says something about the strategy of the master of the Kremlin. If one...
« The USSR deliberately provoked the May 1967 crisis that led to the Six-Day war »
The Six Day War (5-11 June 1967) won by Israel against a coalition of Arab countries - and leading to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip…